The Mist of War
by WiseSkyLight
Summary: Fate is like water; it flows through many paths, but in only one direction. Towards death. Towards war. MoD Harry. Fem!Harry


Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom or Harry Potter.

Summary: Fate is like water; it flows through many paths, but in only one direction. Towards death. Towards war. MoD Harry. Fem!Harry

Beta'd by **HoldTheLineDon'tLookBack**

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The Mist of War

\- Chapter 1 -

Freedom Calls

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1

He was dead.

Her father was dead.

The man who had kept her as his prisoner was gone.

The news numbed Aya with shock to the point that she could not take notice of the hundreds of emotions that surged through her body as she pressed her burning cheeks up against the silk of her smooth pillow in new found horror and excitement. Two emotions that did not go well together, but were able to emerge out from her numbness in a powerful swoop dominating any other feeling. Though she could not understand why she felt this way. Why was she not sad that he was dead, but instead excited? Was it because she had been looking forward to this day since she was forcefully trapped here at the age of 14? Then she realised the truth. It was because she was thrilled to finally be able to escape from his prison, but at the same time, relieved that she would never have to hide again.

 _What would it be like now?_ She wondered. Now he was dead, would she see the world in a new light? She remembered the days where she could never go outside because of her father's fear for her life, but that was changing. She was free. _Free_. And there was no need to be scared. Pulling herself up from her bed, the silk sheets that laid on her pooled around her waist exposing her to the cold atmosphere. It was freezing. She took a glance at her surroundings. The room that she had dubbed her prison was very large, but cosy. It was a beautifully appointed and handsome room with everything she needed inside, so she did not have to take a step outside, but she couldn't even if she wanted to.

Also Aya did not know if it was morning or evening. This was because there was no window to allow the sun to illuminate the room with its warmth. Instead her father would come every morning to give her breakfast with a servant, but now her father was dead. It was the servant that told her that her father had died, but after that the servant stopped coming and Aya did not know why.

Aya soon got herself out of bed as she felt the full force of the cold causing her to shiver. She grabbed the blanket from the bed and proceeded to wrap it around herself to protect herself from the cold. From her refection in the tall mirror to her left, she looked like she was safely wrapped in a cocoon. She then began to walk towards the huge, red decorative doors that lay in front of her. When she reached the doors she placed the palm of one hand softly on it.

Closing her eyes, Aya summoned something she had not used in a long time.

Her magic.

With this Aya seeped her magic through the door to see if she was truly alone. Usually there were two guards outside her door, but this time she felt nothing. This worried her. Not because she could not escape from this room - no - but because this was not normal to her. Ever since she was a child she was trapped in this room with people serving her needs, so having no one come to see her except the servant who she saw a few days ago (well, she was just guessing a few days ago as all Aya did in that time was sleep, so she lost track of time) was not normal.

With her hand still on the door, Aya seeped her magic even further into the corridor which led to stairs. Then she froze. She felt the presence of three people coming down the stairs towards her room. One presence was the servant that she knew too well. The others she did not know.

Aya quickly moved a few meters away from the door and to her bed. Under her pillow was a small sharp dagger that her father had given her just in case anything were to happen to him. She grabbed it and hid her hand with the dagger within the folds of the blanket. Then the door opened. In came the three people.

"Princess!" One called out.

It was the servant. She had a distressed look upon her aging face as she ran towards her.

"Thank the heavens you're okay," the servant cried. "I'm so sorry for leaving you alone the past few days, but I had to not draw suspicion."

Aya's tense figure relaxed a little. "That's okay, Chie," she said soft. "You had left me with food and water to last me months."

The old servant smile at her and drew her into a hug. Aya melted into the hug and felt Chie stroke her hair in comfort. "Everything is going to be okay. We are going to get you out of here."

"We?" Aya questioned in confusion. Then she noticed the other two people in the room. One was an elder middle-aged man with long dark hair and was dressed in battle armour. The boy next to him looked years younger than Aya's age of 17. He was wearing red royal robes.

 _Wait, royal robes? Could he be?_

Chie pulled herself out of the hug and turned towards the other residents in the room. "Oh yes," she said, "I want you to meet these people, Princess. This is our new King Ei Sei and his protector Shobunkun. They are here to get you to safety."

"Safety?" Aya repeated. "Why? Has something gone wrong?"

Chie looked hesitant to explain what was happening, but before she could say anything Ei Sei spoke up.

"Our younger brother, Sei Kyou, has started a rebellion to become King. So he will soon find out you exist just like I did."

Aya knew that only a few guards, servants and one chancellor knew about her living in a chamber under the palace since her father had kept her birth a secret, but this made her realise that Chie must have told them. Though did she tell them the whole truth?

"Chie came to us after the previous King's death explaining to us about you," Shobunkun said interrupting her thoughts. "At first, we did not believe it, but now we see you in front of us and have no choice but to accept what she said as the truth. However, who would have thought that the King had a daughter with a foreign woman 17 years ago while he was held captive in Zhao?"

Aya said nothing to that.

"My Lord," Chie announced, "Pardon my language, but if people found out about her existence she would have been called a bastard as well as mixed-blooded mongrel, as some servants had said this about her when her father was not around because of her unnaturally red hair and green eyes."

"Although she is his shame, is she not?" Shobunkun asked. "That is why he had kept her hidden."

Chie nodded. "That is right, My Lord,"

Now that was a lie and Aya knew it.

 _So she had not told him the absolute truth about me?_ This was a relief. The less people know the better.

"So what are you going to do with me now you know?" Aya questioned. She dreaded the answer, but to give herself comfort she held onto the dagger tightly.

"We have not decided yet, but first we need to get you out of here." The young King answered.

2

A few days passed and Aya was presently watching the morning sun rise above the horizon from a peak through a curtain. _It's beautiful_ , she thought, noticing the way the hues of red, orange and yellow would swirl with blue, but they would not mix. Instead, it was as if the sky wanted to paint a picture on its azure canvas in order to show the world its beauty and catch the attention of the people down below.

This made Aya feel safe for the first time in years. The sky always had this calming effect on her and made her feel as if there was nothing on this earth that could possibly harm her, but there was an explanation for that; the sky had always been her home. Though she had been deprived of this feeling for years. Ever since she decided that it would be a good idea to show her father her magic as a child. This ended up having her locked away from the rest of the world. Her father said it was for her safety as there were people waiting to exploit her magic if they found out about it.

She did not believe that.

Though her father was a kind man, Aya could see the fear in his eyes every time she showed him bits of her magic in order to impress him. At first she thought that her father was scared that she hurt herself, but at the age of six she realised that the thing her father feared was her. _He feared me like I was a monster._ This crushed her when she was a child, but she soon taught herself that there were people in the world that were always going to fear things that they did not understand.

She also remembered that her father would avoid doing simple things like hugging her, but he give her bits of affection like praise her when she did learn to read and write new words as a child. Then one day the praises stopped. Her father became distance, but not cold.

 _He would visit, but not as much as he used to._

Aya shook her head to rid herself of those negative thoughts. There was no use thinking about it now. The past was the past and she has no choice but to focus on the present if she wanted to survive this world.

During the last few days, Aya had been traveling with Ei Sei in secret until they arrived in a village called Kokuhi. Throughout the journey both of them had been silent. Not uttering a single word, as they had to be quiet to make sure no one would find them. Now they were currently in a small shack and Aya could feel her brother's curiosity about her. Soon she knew he would start to ask questions.

"Princess," Sei said softly from behind her as if not to startle her out of her thoughts, "don't sit close to the entrance and close the curtain. We must not be seen."

Moving away from the curtain, Aya sat opposite her brother who was staring at her with an unreadable expression upon his face, though his eyes showed something different. This is when he finally decided to ask his first question.

"Princess," he began, "may I ask why father truly kept you hidden?"

 _So he caught on to the lie?_

Aya knew from father that Sei was an intelligent boy, so she was not surprised that he was able to figure out Chie was lying, as no King would go to such lengths as her father did just to hide a bastard. Sei must have figured out that there was something more to it, but now was not the time to tell him the truth.

Aya lowered her head. "I'm sorry, My King-"

"Call me Sei," he interrupted, "We are family after all."

This made her blink in shock.

"I'm sorry, Sei," she corrected, "but I cannot tell you. Not right now."

"Why can't you tell me?"

 _Curious boy, isn't he?_

"It's for my protection," she replied.

Which was true. If people found out that she had magic they might wish to exploit her and her power, so she could not tell just anyone about it, even family. Her father had warned her not to trust anyone but Chie who was still at the palace.

"One more thing, how did you escape Zhao since you were born there, too?"

"I escaped with father with the help of Chancellor Ryo Fui."

"Ryo Fui?"

"Yes."

Raising her head, Aya gazed deep into her brother's eyes, which looked burning with more questions, but he held himself back. Instead he said, "You should sleep. There is a chance that we might leave tonight."

Aya nodded. Then rested on her right side and drifted off into a peaceful slumber.

3

Night had arrived as a cool breeze flowed through the run down shack making Aya move closer to a candle for warmth. She was once again sat in silence while her brother was reading scrolls. The silence was not something that Aya found uncomfortable, as it was a sign of the peaceful life that she had lived so far. A life in ignorance of the suffering outside her chamber door, but now she must come face to face with it, as danger was close to her doorstep once again.

But truth is she missed the feeling; the rush of the moment knowing that in a split second you could live or die. No wonder Ron and Hermione thought that she was reckless. Yes, she remembered them; her closest friends. A day had not gone passed when she did not think of them.

 _How long has it been?_

Aya faintly recalled her death against Voldemort. They had both died together in a flash of light caused by the explosion their magic created when they collided. However, her death was not instantaneous leaving her to die in the arms of the person she loved. She could still hear the sobs of her friends as she took her last breath, but Death would not let her pass on just yet. He never did.

Returning her thoughts back to the silence, Aya had something else on her mind which would cause her to shatter the stillness of sound, but she had to. It was the only way to get her answer.

"Sei?" She said breaking the silence.

"Yes?" He replied, looking up from his scrolls to face her.

"Why..?" She asked softly while gazing hard into his eyes. "Why did you choose to help me? You could have just left me to Sei Kyou, but you did not. Why? And don't tell me it's because I'm family."

"It's because you're a mystery," he said as if that explained everything. "Father was a weak man, easily manipulated, but he used his strength to keep you protected and hidden. I want to find out why he did that, so until I figure you out you will stay by my side."

Before Aya could reply, she felt a presence walking towards the shack making her freeze in place. Soon she could hear the footsteps which were now a feet away. Sei seemed to have also noticed as well.

Within seconds the curtain were pulled back and in came a young worn out boy armed with a sword. He was staring dead straight at Sei as his face morphed into shock causing him to drop his sword, which clattered onto the floor. Aya's own presence forgotten.

"No... No way..." The boy said shaken up. "There's no way this is possible. Hyou?!"

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 **AN:** Thanks to those who read all the way down to the bottom. Writing this chapter was fun, so I hope you enjoyed it. I will also being explaining a few things here. Firstly, even though Aya/Harry has magic there is a reason she could not escape her prison and you will find out about that in future chapters. Secondly, Aya will be paired with someone, but I don't with who yet. So I am asking you. Who do you want Aya to be paired with?


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